Melvin Baker - AHN Reporter
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged "for an extended period," the agency said Wednesday.
Saying that the nation's financial conditions were "roughly unchanged," the Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave rates at the current zero to 0.25 percent. The group said inflation was expected to "remain subdued."
The overnight lending rate has been at the same level since December.
The FOMC cited improvements in housing and personal spending, noting that those advances were countered by continuing cutbacks by businesses on fixed investment and jobs. Those reductions, the committee said, were buffered by progress in matching inventories with sales.
The Fed said it would purchase $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billon in agency debt by the end of the first quarter of 2010.
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